Getting started with SIRIS Imaged

Topic

This article describes the SIRIS imaging tool used for creating SIRIS Imaged deployments.

Environment

• SIRIS Imaged

Description

The SIRIS imaged utility lets you convert compatible hardware to a SIRIS continuity appliance. See the following sections for system requirements and configuration recommendations.

• Hardware requirements
• Unsupported Hardware
• Recommended CPU and RAM for imaged Datto appliances
• Storage configuration
• Storage Drive Requirements by Dataset Size
• Next steps

Hardware requirements

CPU and Memory

• Minimum quad-core 64-bit x86 processor (Intel or AMD).

• The minimum amount of RAM as determined by local storage capacity. See the Recommended CPU and Ram for imaged Datto appliances section of this article.

NIC

• Minimum 1GbE with DHCP-enabled Internet connectivity.

• 10GbE (copper, SFP+, or SFP28), 25GbE, or higher speeds are fully supported for users requiring higher performance.

• Dual NICs recommended for redundancy and performance.

• The target system's networking environment must meet the Unified Backup Networking and Bandwidth Requirements.

DISK

OS:

• Required: At least 120 GB SSD (SATA or NVMe). 60 GB would be allocated to the OS partition.

Pool Drive:

• Minimum: Two drives of the same type and model (preferred).

• Capacity: At least 1TB per drive.

• Type Requirements by Dataset Size:

  • Up to 12TB datasets: SATA drives acceptable (ensure they are NOT SMR drives - use CMR/PMR drives only)
  • Over 12TB datasets: SAS, Flash, or NVMe drives required for optimal performance

Slog Drive (optional): this drive would boost your system virtualization performance, and a low capacity NVMe drive is preferred.

• Required for all tiers: NVMe drive for optimal performance.

• Capacity: 8-32 GB is typically sufficient.

• Purpose: Accelerates synchronous write performance and ensures data integrity.

  NOTE  The SLOG device significantly improves virtualization performance and should be considered mandatory for production environments.

Due to the wide variety of storage devices customers may use (including HDDs, SSDs, SATA, NVMe, etc.), we cannot guarantee full compatibility or accurate reporting for every model. If you encounter unexpected or incorrect disk alerts, consider disabling alerts for that specific drive or testing with a different model.

BIOS

• BIOS capable of USB Boot. UEFI Boot is also supported.

• VT-x (Intel Virtualization Technology for IA-32 and Intel 64 Processors) must be enabled in the BIOS.

• Secure Boot must be disabled in the BIOS.

• All SATA hardware to be imaged must have the External Device option for its port set to Disabled in the device BIOS.

Unsupported hardware

• Pre-existing RAID configurations, both hardware, and software are unsupported. The SIRIS imager will create its software RAID configuration during the conversion process. If the target hardware has a hardware RAID, disable it. If possible, enable HBA mode (sometimes called Initiator-Target mode or Integrated RAID mode; see Oracle's documentation on the subject (external link) for more information. Although not technically required for SIRIS Imaged devices, Initiator-target capable storage controllers are needed for proper drive health reporting

• External SAN configurations are not supported.

• You cannot use removable media as the device's OS drive.

• Versions of the SIRIS Imager on media other than a USB stick are unsupported.

• SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording) drives are NOT supported - use CMR/PMR drives only

Recommended CPU and RAM for Imaged Datto appliances

For best performance, Datto recommends that the target hardware meet or exceed the following minimum resources. Allocating fewer system resources than recommended can result in performance limitations during restoration and disaster recovery. The imager can create RAID configurations up to RAID 10.

Datto supports all Ubuntu Server Certified Hardware that meets these requirements.

Storage configuration

SIRIS Imager supports RAID 1, 5, 6, or 10. You can calculate the actual pool capacity based on the number of drives and raid configuration by using a RAID Calculator (external link). Refer to the table above to find the model for your device and pick the model with storage capacity smaller than your actual pool capacity. For example, if you have a pool of 14TB, you would pick SI12 (12TB) as the device model.

• Non-standard RAID configurations (i.e., using a 2TB drive to make a 1TB storage pool with no redundancy) are not supported.

• Datto devices technically support RAIDz, as they are ZFS based. It is referred simply as RAID in our documentation, as the differences are minimal.

Storage Drive Requirements by Dataset Size

Critical Requirements:

1. SLOG Device: An NVMe SLOG device is required for all configurations to ensure optimal performance and data integrity

2. Drive Type Selection:

   • Datasets up to 12TB: SATA drives are acceptable.

     • IMPORTANT: Verify drives are CMR/PMR, NOT SMR.
     • SMR drives will severely impact performance and are not supported.

   • Datasets over 12TB: SAS, Flash, or NVMe drives required.

     • Higher IOPS and throughput necessary for larger datasets.
     • Better suited for the increased workload of larger environments.

ZFS Best Practices:

• Always use drives of the same model and capacity within a vdev.

• Plan for 20% free space in your pool for optimal performance.

• Use ECC RAM when possible for data integrity.

Performance Considerations:

• SLOG devices should be enterprise-grade NVMe with high write endurance.

• Mirror vdevs (RAID 10) provide the best performance for high I/O workloads.

• RAIDz2 (RAID 6) recommended for larger arrays for better fault tolerance.

Next Steps

If the target system meets the minimum system requirements for imaging, proceed to the Converting Hardware to a SIRIS With Datto Utilities article.